INDEPENDENCE DAY Set for 3D Re-Release on July 3, 2013

Will Smith will be reclaiming his Fourth of July box office throne next year, but it’ll be with a movie that’s 16 years old. In addition to dates for the X-Men: First Class sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Robopocalypse, Fox announced today that director Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi invasion pic Independence Day will return to theaters in 3D on July 3rd, 2013. It’ll be interesting to see how well the film actually does given that the box office climate nowadays is vastly different from that of 1996. How confused will kids be to see that the humans’ master line of defense involves a now primitive-looking computer virus?

In a world where “dark” and “gritty” blockbusters dominate the marketplace, the slightly goofy and unabashedly fun Independence Day should stand out a bit. That said, The Avengers is breaking records left and right and that film is packed to the brim with hope, humor, and unbridled joy. Hit the jump for more, including the film’s original trailer.

Fox has been mulling over the prospect of a sequel(s) to Independence Dayfor some time, and I wonder if this 3D re-release is meant to test the waters to see if there’s interest for further continuation of the story. When Steve recently sat down with Smith, the actor responded in the negative when asked about his involvement in a possible sequel, but the last report on the matter had Fox interested in making the sequel with or without Smith’s involvement. The post-converted sci-fier takes over the date previously held by Steven Spielberg’s Robopocalypse and squares off against Despicable Me 2. 2013 isn’t too far away, so get to working on your best 3D-infused acronyms for the ID4 re-release. Watch the original trailer below.